Acrotomophilia (from the
Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
"having the top cut off"; from ' "extremity" and - from ' "I cut" and ' "love") is a
paraphilia
A paraphilia is an experience of recurring or intense sexual arousal to atypical objects, places, situations, fantasies, behaviors, or individuals. It has also been defined as a sexual interest in anything other than a legally consenting human ...
in which an individual expresses strong sexual interest in
amputees. It is a counterpart to
apotemnophilia, the desire (although not necessarily sexual) to be an amputee.
Overview
Acrotomophiles may be attracted to
amputees because they like the way they look or they may view the amputee's stump as a
phallic object which can be used for
sexual pleasure. Acrotomophiles may enjoy the idea of dominating the amputee during couples play and they may also become aroused with the thought of having to take care of an amputee.
Interests and behaviours
In a survey of acrotomophiles, leg amputations were preferred over arm amputations, amputations of a single limb over double amputations, and amputations that left a stump over amputations that left no stump. According to Per Solvang (2007), "Devotees adhere to standard conceptions of attractiveness in all other matters outside of amputations."
Ethical issues
Some people question whether amputating one's own body parts or operating on a partner for the sake of sexual pleasure is ethical. For some, modifying the body is a private ritual of self-ownership and freedom of choice. Psychiatrists may make a diagnosis of
body integrity identity disorder.
Terminology
The term ''amelotatism'' has also been used to describe acrotomophilia. The sexual interest in ''being'' an amputee is ''
apotemnophilia''.
[ John Money, Kent W. Simcoe (1984)]
"Acrotomophilia, sex and disability: New concepts and case report".
''Sexuality and Disability Journal''. Springer Netherlands. (Print), (Online). John Money (1977) used the terms ''autoapotemnophilia'' and ''alloapotemnophilia'' to describe the erotic interest of wanting to be or appear as an amputee versus wanting amputees as sexual partners;
[Money, J., Jobaris, R., & Furth, G. (1977). "Apotemnophilia: Two Cases of Self Demand Amputation as a Sexual Preference". ''The Journal of Sex Research'', 13, pp. 115–124. .] neither term has been widely used since. The term ''
teratophilia'' is used to describe arousal from deformed or monstrous people.
See also
*
Attraction to disability
*
Body dysmorphic disorder
Body dysmorphic disorder (BDD), also known in some contexts as dysmorphophobia, is a mental disorder defined by an overwhelming preoccupation with a perceived flaw in one's physical appearance. In BDD's delusional variant, the flaw is imagined ...
* ''
Boxing Helena'', a feature film concerning amputee fetishism
*
Disability pretenders
*
Disability
Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be Cognitive disability, cognitive, Developmental disability, d ...
*
Genital modification and mutilation
Genital modifications are forms of body modifications applied to the human sex organs, human sexual organs, including invasive modifications performed through genital cutting or surgery. The term genital enhancement seem to be generally used for ...
*
List of paraphilias
References
External links
{{Paraphilia
Amputation
Disability and sexuality
Paraphilias